Mirror
by Vampire Snow White
Summary: Snow White was not the sweet little girl everyone thought she was; she was actually a spoiled brat who pushed Queen Grimhilde to the edge. Snow White eventually becomes more mature and starts acting like an adult. But, then she meets Ferdinand's child from a previous marriage who is just as much of a brat as Snow White used to be. Will Snow White lose it like Grimhilde did?
1. Chapter 1

**PROLOGUE**

"No! I _hate _that dress!" 8-year-old Snow White whined.

"Snow, this is a beautiful dress," Queen Grimhilde stated, trying not to lose her patience with the young princess.

"No it's not! It's ugly." Snow White plopped down on her bedroom floor and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not wearing it!"

"The Sultan had this dress made especially for you and since we're going to a party at his palace, you're going to wear the dress." Queen Grimhilde was dangerously close to losing it and snapping at Snow White.

To say Snow White was spoiled was an understatement. Her parents had both died and Grimhilde was left to raise the child on her own; this was proving to be more difficult than she thought because only Grimhilde saw the real Snow White. Everyone who ever met Snow White would go on and on about how pretty she was and Snow White always acted super sweet. But Gimhilde knew Snow White was a self-absorbed brat. She acted kind towards everyone, even the servants, to ensure they would keep doing things for her and buying her new toys and dresses. Though, even when she got what she wanted, it wasn't good enough.

_"I wanted this dress in pink, not blue! And there are too many ruffles!"_

_"I wanted the doll with black hair, not brown hair!"_

_"You only got me one pony? What was the point of building a whole stable for only one pony?"_

_"God! Can't you do anything right?"_

It didn't help that everyone bowed to her very whim and she was never disciplined. Of course, Grimhilde tried, but she was always scowled by a servant or nanny saying she was being too hard on her. Snow White was "just a child" after all. How long will everyone use that as justification?

Queen Grimhilde tried to keep Snow White level headed by insisting she was prettier than the princess, which worked when they were alone. But, whenever someone else was around, they fussed over how pretty she was and it refueled her.

Grimhilde gripped the light blue dress and stared at Snow White as she lied on the floor in her undergarments and screamed. Grimhilde crouched down in front of Snow White.

"Put the dress on now," Grimhilde hissed.

"NO!"

Grimhilde gripped Snow White's arm and pulled her up into a seated position. "Ow! You're hurting me!" Snow White cried.

Grimhilde rolled her eyes. "Listen up, you little brat! You're going to put the dress on right now or I'm giving all of your toys to the poor children of the kingdom."

Snow White's eyes grew wide. "They don't deserve any toys! They didn't earn them."

"Neither did you!" Grimhilde snapped, throwing the dress at Snow White. "Now put it on."

Snow White pouted, but took the dress and put it on. Grimhilde brushed out Snow White's long black hair, then tied it back with a light blue ribbon that matched the dress. When Snow White was ready, the two of them made their way through the castle towards the front entrance where the carriage was waiting. They got stopped by a couple different servants on their way who told Snow White she looked wonderful and Snow White beamed at all of them.

When they finally arrived at the Sultan's palace, the party had been going on for almost two hours. It was one thing to arrive fashionably late, but this was embarrassing.

"This is going to be so boring!" Snow White complained as they hurried up to the front entrance.

"As a princess it's your duty to know all of these people and go to their events to keep the kingdoms at peace," Grimhilde explained.

"But, I'm just a child."

Queen Grimhilde winced. "You're not just a child; you're a princess and you have a responsibility to your kingdom."

"This is so unfair!"

Grimhilde ignored her as they reached the top of the grand staircase that led down to the ballroom. When they were introduced, Grimhilde and Snow White forced smiles and Snow White waved. The Sultan's parties were always big deals and there was royalty from kingdoms all over. Grimhilde looked around for the Sultan. When she spotted him, she took Snow White's hand and led her over to him. The two of them curtsied and he gave them a slight bow.

"Ah, Queen Grimhilde, I'm so glad you made it." The Sultan took Grimhilde's hand and kissed. "You haven't aged a bit; you truly the fairest of them all."

Grimhilde shot Snow White an 'I told you so' glance and Snow White frowned. "You're too kind, your majesty."

The Sultan looked down at Snow White. "Why, Snow White, you look simply adorable in that dress."

A fleeting look crossed Snow White's eyes and Grimhilde could tell she was displeased with being called adorable. But, she smiled sweetly at the Sultan. "I just love this dress!"

The Sultan laughed. "I knew you would."

"Snow White!" Princess Aurora ran towards Snow White, clutching the skirt of her dress to keep from tripping. Aurora was two years older than Snow White with smooth porcelain skin, violet eyes and golden hair.

Snow White hurried off with Aurora. Grinhilde thought about telling her to behave, but decided against it. She wanted these people to see exactly what kind of little girl she was.

ooooo

An hour later Snow White returned to the ballroom, but she was now with the Sultan's twelve-year-old daughter, Jasmine. Snow White was talking incessantly about something and Jasmine couldn't look more bored. Snow White noticed this and got mad. She tried to get Jasmine's attention, but she was now ignoring her. Snow White stomped her foot, then grabbed Jasmine's hair and pulled it. Jasmine tried to get her to let go, but Snow White just tightened her grip. Finally, Jasmine shoved Snow White away. Snow White fell dramatically backwards and started crying. Jasmine and Grimhilde rolled their eyes.

"Jasmine!" the Sultan bellowed, storming over to her. "How dare you push Princess Snow White?"

Jasmine looked up, panicked. "But, father, she-"

"This is unacceptable!"

Grimhilde hurried over to them. "Your highness, I saw the whole thing; Snow White pulled Jasmine's hair and Jasmine was just trying to get her to let go."

This made Snow White wail even louder. Everyone was looking at them now. "Why is everyone against me? Princess Jasmine pushed me-she's a bully!"

Snow White was now pointing an accusing finger at Jasmine and Jasmine was staring at her with her mouth hanging open. The Sultan grabbed her arm and started pulling her away.

"I am very disappointed in you, Jasmine. You are clearly not fit to interact with other people and you will never leave this palace!" The Sultan demanded.

Grimhilde turned sharply towards Snow White. "We're leaving. Now!"

"I don't want to!"

"I don't care." Grimhilde grabbed Snow White's arm and dragged her out of the party.

ooooo

**6 Years Later...**

Queen Grimhilde stared out her window at Snow White. She was cleaning the stone steps and humming to herself. Of course she was humming now. Not fifteen minutes ago she had been fighting with Grimhilde about doing her chores, but now that the gardener was around, Snow White put on her sweet facade.

Snow White was now fourteen and growing up to be a beautiful young woman... and she knew it. It was practically impossible for Grimhilde to be around her now. Grimhilde kept Snow White in rags and had even cut her long black hair really short to hide her beauty, but it was still visible to everyone. Snow White was now so full of herself, it was a wonder her ego even fit in the castle.

Because she was even more beautiful, she had become even more of a spoiled brat. Grimhilde started having her do chores to try and make her humble, but it wasn't working.

Grimhilde sighed and walked over to her mirror. "Mirror, mirror, on the wall; who is the fairest of them all?"

She knew it was Snow White before the mirror even responded. She sat down on her throne and rubbed her forehead. How did her life come to this? How did the Queen end up in the shadow of the bratty princess? Snow White wasn't even her daughter and, yet, she still had to put up with her. She was so tired.

Grimhilde lifted her head as a sudden thought came to her? What would happen to the kingdom when Snow White took over? She was so selfish and greedy; no doubt the people would suffer under her rule. No. Grimhilde couldn't let that happen.

"Step mother!" Snow White shrieked as she barged into the throne room. "Why are there men in the castle removing my things?"

Grimhilde had almost forgotten that she hired a few men to take Snow White's old and unused things and give them the poorer people of the kingdom.

"We're getting rid of the things you don't use," Grimhilde told her.

"You can't do that! Those are mine!"

"Shut up, Snow White, and go finish your chores!" Grimhilde snapped.

"You can't tell me what to do you; you're not my mother."

_Thank God, _Grimhilde thought. Out loud she said, "No, I'm not; but I'm the only parent you have."

"I hate you!"

_I hate you, too. _Grimhilde waved her hand, dismissively. "Finish your chores."

Snow White stomped her foot, then turned on her heel and stormed out.

No. The kingdom could not become Snow White's. The people deserved better than that. But what could Queen Grimhilde do? A couple years ago, Snow White managed to convince everyone she was an evil witch. Granted, Grimhilde knew a couple spells and how to mix potions, but she was far from being an evil witch. It didn't matter, though; everyone always took Snow White's side.

ooooo

Queen Grimhilde was up all that night trying to come up with a solution to Snow White, but the only idea she had was death. Of course, she couldn't do it herself, so she hired a huntsman to kill her and bring back her heart. But the foolish huntsman fell under Snow White's spell and he let her go. Grimhilde was growing more tired and she knew she wouldn't be around much longer; Snow White had been putting so much stress on her that she was aging faster than normal women her age.

Grimhilde had known the huntsman would not go through with the killing, so she had concocted a back up plan. She would disguise herself as an old hag and offer Snow White a poison apple. After all, if you wanted something done right you had to do it yourself, right?

Turns out, even doing it herself she couldn't succeed. While trying to get away from the seven dwarfs, Queen Grimhilde fell off a cliff.

Prince Ferdinand found Snow White in her glass coffin and kissed her. Snow White woke up and the two of them were married. Snow White was now going to live happily ever after...

...or so she thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Snow White ran her hand over her hair as she checked her reflection. She missed the long hair she used to have, but for now she would have to make the best of it. Today she had it curled like usual, but instead of her bow she was now wearing her new tiara. Upon arriving to Ferdinand's castle after the honeymoon, Snow White had received the tiara as well as a vast new wardrobe. She had more gowns than she could wear in one year; even if she wore two dresses everyday. She had to admit: her younger self would have loved it.

Tonight was a special occasion, according to Ferdinand. There was someone he wanted her to meet; someone really important to him. Snow White didn't know who it was and wasn't sure which gown would be appropriate, so she decided on a simple light blue gown.

Just as she was finishing getting ready, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in!" Snow White called out in her small voice.

The door slowly opened and a young female servant stuck her head in. "Pardon my intrusion, princess."

Snow White had been working on learning the names of all the servants and she was almost certain her name was Cinderella. Still, she figured it would be best not to address her by name until she was absolutely sure. She smiled at her. "It's no intrusion."

The servant stepped inside. "Prince Ferdinand sent me up to here to let you know dinner is ready."

"Thank you. Tell him I'll be right down."

The girl nodded and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her. Snow White turned back to the full-length mirror. She gave herself one final look, then took a deep breath and headed down to the dining room. Prince Ferdinand was already seated at the head of the table and stood up when Snow White entered.

"You look beautiful, as always," Ferdinand said as he kissed her.

"Thank you."

The two of them sat down. Snow White was about to ask who would be joining them, when the door to the kitchen flew open and the cook, Tiana, shooed an eight-year-old boy out into the dining room. Tiana opened her mouth to yell at the boy, but when she saw Ferdinand, she closed her mouth, gave the boy a dirty look and went back into the kitchen. Ferdinand smiled at the boy as he sat down across from Snow White.

"Snow, this is my son, Derek. Derek, this is your new stepmother, Snow White."

Snow White looked back and forth between Ferdinand and Derek. She had no idea Ferdinand had son. This meant he had been married previously, which she also hadn't known.

"It's nice to meet you, Derek," Snow White told him.

Derek made a face. "You have an annoying voice."

Snow White couldn't help being taken aback by the boy's bluntness.

"Derek, don't say things like that to people; it hurts their feelings," Ferdinand said, calmly, not looking up from his plate.

Derek laughed. "Did I hurt your feelings, _Snow_?"

"Um..." Snow White really wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Come on, buddy, just eat," Ferdinand said.

Derek picked at his food for awhile, but as far as Snow White noticed, he didn't actually eat anything. When Ferdinand finished eating, he looked over Derek.

"You have to eat, buddy."

"I did. It's awful!" Derek crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"At least finish your meat."

"No! It's disgusting." Derek now looked like he was going to cry.

"All right. You can be excused."

Derek jumped down from his chair and ran off. Ferdinand reached over and took Derek's plate.

"I don't think he actually ate anything," Snow White said, carefully.

Ferdinand glanced up at her. "He said he did; I believe him. I will never accuse my son of being dishonest."

Snow White nodded. "Ferdinand? How come you never told me you had a son?"

"It never came up."

Thinking back, Snow White realized there had been several times when he could have brought it up, but she decided to let it go.

"Where is his mother?" Snow White asked.

Ferdinand set his fork down. "She died giving birth to Derek."

Snow White gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry. That's how my mother died, too."

Ferdinand nodded. "It was hard on Derek not having a mother figure around and I was always busy. I had been looking for another woman to marry so he'd have a mother, but none of the other princesses were the right woman. I eventually hired a nanny. Kayley is her name. Derek just adores her. He wanted me to marry her, but she's already married."

"Well, he seems like an interesting kid."

Ferdinand smiled. "He's the best kid in the world."

ooooo

That night, while Ferdinand was spending time with Derek, Snow White went into the large library to write a letter to Aurora. She sat down at the desk and pulled out a sheet of parchment. She stirred the ink with her feather pen, then began to write.

_Dearest Aurora,_

_How are things with you and your family? Ferdinand and I are back from our honeymoon now. I would love to tell you all about it, but there is something else on my mind. Tonight I learned Ferdinand has an eight-year-old son, Derek. I didn't spend much time with him, so I do not know what he is like, but I cannot help but feel a little upset that Ferdinand never told me about him or told me he had been married before. It seems, though, that I will need your parenting advice. I miss you._

_Snow_

Snow waited until the ink was dry before rolling it up. She melted the red wax over the paper, then sealed it with her seal. She had chosen an apple as her symbol, which Ferdinand had thought was unusual since an apple was what had killed her. Snow White didn't see it that way. Her stepmother had told her it would make all of her wishes come true, and it had. She wished her prince would come and he did. It may have killed her, but it also brought her prince to her. It was impossible for Snow White to see the evil in the apple like everyone else around her did.

* * *

**Note: Derek is from _The Swan Princess_ and Kayley is from _Quest for Camelot_. I know neither are Disney. There will be a few non-Disney characters in this story, but I didn't want to make this a crossover. As always, reviews are appreciated. Thank you for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

_My Dear Snow,_

_Things are wonderful here. Odette just turned seven last week and Philip bought her a pony. She named the pony Princess and just loves her to death. My good friend, Belle, has been teaching her how to ride it since Philip has been so busy. Odette has been asking about you and wondering why you weren't at her birthday party. Perhaps we'll have to arrange to visit you sometime soon. I must say, I was surprised as well to hear Ferdinand has a son. I don't know anything about raising someone else's child, but discipline is important so he won't become spoiled. I'm afraid that may be the only advice I have for you. Good luck and I do hope to hear from you soon._

_Love, Aurora_

Snow White carefully refolded the letter and stuck it in the drawer of the desk. Ferdinand had asked her to spend some time with Derek that afternoon and she didn't have time to reply to Aurora just then. Snow White stood up and adjusted her skirt before going to look for Derek. When she walked out into the hallway, she ran into Cinderella.

"Oh, I'm very sorry, Highness," Cinderella said as she picked up the broom she had dropped.

"It's all right. Have you seen Derek recently?"

Cinderella thought for a moment and then nodded. "I saw him not too long ago in the courtyard with Kayley."

"Thank you."

Snow White made her way out to the courtyard where she found Derek and a young brunette woman playing with wooden swords. They were both laughing and Kayley was clearly letting Derek have the upper hand. Snow White watched them until Derek knocked the sword out of Kayley's hand, winning the battle.

"You got me again," Kayley said, putting her hands up in mock surrender.

Derek laughed and twirled his sword. "You need to practice more."

Kayley saluted him. "Yes, sir."

"Good afternoon," Snow White greeted them.

"Good afternoon, Princess," Kayley replied.

Derek rolled his eyes when he saw Snow White and made no attempt to hide the fact that he didn't want her there. "We were playing and you interrupted us."

"Now, Derek; your father told you I could only stay with you for a short while today and that you would be spending the afternoon with Princess Snow White," Kayley said.

"I don't want to!" Derek threw his sword on the ground and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Kayley glanced nervously at Snow White, then knelt down in front of Derek. "It's only for a little bit; you'll have fun with her. I'll be back in the morning."

Derek pouted. "I hate your husband for taking you away from me."

Kayley narrowed her eyes. It was obvious she wanted to scold him for that, but she didn't. "Derek, it's not nice to say things like that."

"I don't care!" Derek then took off running.

"He's all yours," Kayley told Snow White as she stood up. "Good luck."

"Thank you."

Snow White ran after Derek and caught up with him at the stables. He was unlatching one of the stalls and one of the men in the stables was standing nearby, holding a saddle.

"We're going riding," Derek told her.

Snow White bit her lip as she eyed a large black horse in the stall next to her. She had never ridden a horse on her own before.

"I don't know about this, Derek. Why don't we do something else?" Snow White asked.

"No! I want to go riding!"

"All right."

"Would you like me to get you a saddle as well, highness?" the stable boy asked.

Snow White slowly nodded. "Yes, please."

The stable boy brought the black horse out and quickly put a saddle on it. Derek had no trouble getting on his horse and sat there, waiting for Snow White. The stable boy set a stool next to the black horse and helped her up. She straddled the horse and gripped the reins tightly. As soon as she was on the horse, Derek's horse started trotting away. Snow White dug her heels into the side of the horse the way Ferdinand did when they went for rides together. The horse slowly started walking and it didn't take long for her to catch up to Derek. They rode silently for a little while until Snow White felt too uncomfortable and had break the silence.

"Derek, I don't know why you don't like me. Is it because you think I'm trying to replace your mother? Because I'm not."

Derek glared at her. "I never knew my mother. I don't like you because you're ugly and your voice is annoying. And I think my father should have married Kayley."

"Kayley already has a husband."

"Don't bring him up around me!"

Derek reached over and hit Snow White's horse with the the whip in his hand. Her horse immediately took off running. Snow White let out a scream and struggled to hold on as it jumped over fallen logs. Snow White pulled on the reins as hard as she could, causing the horse to come to an abrupt stop and throw Snow White off its back. Snow White hit the ground hard and all of the wind rushed out of her. She could hear Derek laughing. She looked up in time to see him ride off back to towards the stables.

Snow White got back on her horse and made her way back as well. As soon as she was back in the castle, she sought out Ferdinand. She found him in his office and wasn't at all surprised to see Derek with him. When Ferdinand saw Snow White, he frowned. She knew she must have looked terrible; no doubt her dress was dirty and she had leaves in her hair.

"What happened to you?"

"I fell off my horse."

"Dear, you know you shouldn't ride alone," Ferdinand told her.

"I was doing just fine until Derek whipped my horse and made it race off."

Ferdinand glanced at Derek. "Derek, is that true?"

"No! She's lying just so she can get me in trouble."

Ferdinand looked back up at Snow White. "Snow, it's okay that you don't know how to ride a horse. You don't have to blame Derek for falling off."

"I'm not lying to you."

Ferdinand turned his attention back to what he had been writing when Snow White first walked in. "I told you; my son would never be dishonest with me. And I don't appreciate you accusing of doing something like that."

Snow White's mouth dropped open and Derek smiled slyly at her.


End file.
